Need help with a RAM upgrade

[travio1]

Hi I'm new to upgrading and I need assistance on upgrading my RAM on my HP Pavilion 15-cw1063wm laptop. I want to upgrade to either two sticks or one stick of 32GB 2666 RAM and I currently have the stock one stick of 8GB 2400. I've done some research but many things conflict with each other such as some sources say my specific model can support Dual channel while another says it is locked to single channel by BIOS and cannot be changed. Some say it can only support up to 16GB while another says it can support up to 32GB because it's a Ryzen module. Not to mention there's both dual channel and single channel options when browsing on Amazon from the Crucial vendor. I've found RAM for sale on the crucial website but I want to make sure first. I plan to upgrade soon but I could use some assurance to make sure I don't brick my laptop so any help would be appreciated.

Using CPU-Z my specs are as follows:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 Mobile 3500U
Motherboard: HP 8615 46.30 Laptop motherboard
RAM: Samsung m471a1k43cb1-ctd 8GB Single-channel DDR4-2667
GPU: AMD Radeon Vega 8 Graphics

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi:

Chapter 1 of the service manual indicates that the max memory is 2 x 8 GB.

Maintenance and Service Guide HP Pavilion 15 Laptop PC

It can probably take 2 x 16 GB of memory like the crucial memory report indicates.

Memory RAM & SSD Upgrades | hp - compaq | pavilion 15 series | Pavilion 15-cw1063wm | Crucial IN

Quick lesson on memory nomenclature...

There is no such thing as single channel and dual channel memory.

Memory is memory.  How it runs is either in single channel or dual channel mode.

Right now your PC's memory is running in single channel mode because in order for the memory to run in dual channel mode, you have to install the memory in matching capacities (2 x 8 GB, 2 x 16 GB).

Since HP installed a DDR4-2666 MHz memory chip in your notebook (which is running at 2400 MHz), depending on how much memory you want to install, you would want either:

One DDR4-2666 8 GB chip from the above report...

Crucial 8GB DDR4-2666 SODIMM | CT8G4SFRA266 | Crucial IN

Or you can buy the 2 x 16 GB DDR4 2666 kit if you believe the Crucial report is correct.

Crucial 32GB Kit (2 x 16GB) DDR4-2666 SODIMM | CT2K16G4SFD8266 | Crucial IN

For some reason the report has defaulted to the Crucial India website.

Just enter the part number you are interested in buying on the Amazon site and you should be good to go.

If you want to feel more confident regarding the amount of memory your PC can support, you can do this...

1. In the search box, search for cmd and click Run as administrator. This will open the command prompt.

2. Once command prompt is opened, type wmic memphysical get maxcapacity and hit enter. There, it will show the maximum RAM capacity your PC's motherboard can support.

The capacity is shown as Kilobytes, so you have to convert it to Gigabytes by dividing the number provided in the report by 1,048,576.

[travio1]

Thank you, you are a godsend. I had originally asked this exact question on reddit but all I got was a basic response and a downvote. I just needed some assurance before I bought anything so thank you.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

[travio1]

I have one more question if you don't mind me asking. What's single rank and dual rank? Dual rank seems to be cheaper and using CPU-Z it says my current installed RAM stick is Single rank. Which should I choose?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

A good question...

See the info at the link below.

Single Rank vs Dual Rank RAM: Differences & Performance Impact (cgdirector.com)

Single Rank vs Dual Rank Memory: Which one is Better? - Hardware Times

A dual ranked memory chip will work fine in your notebook, or with the single ranked memory chip currently installed.

[travio1]

Alright thanks for your help.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Anytime. 

Glad to have been of assistance.